Cimmaron, Rodeo, or, ???

Well I'll admit, this drive across the west has worn down my resistance... sometime in the next couple months I'll be getting a Single Action Army clone, I think.. anyone care to offer suggestions?

First off.. the history part is MUCH more important to me than the "will work good for CAS" part. Thus, I've already decided I DON'T want a Ruger -- I want an honest-to-Gosh half-cock and solid firing pin, by golly.

Obviously, an old Colt would be nice, but I don't want to pay in the several thousand range for a little Pony, especially if I'm actually gonna shoot the thing and not leave it in a museum... and the new Colts all have transfer bars now, right?

I was originally thinking Rodeo after the Rifleman review a while back, and then I saw the Cimarron in a local place for 325 more-or-less NIB. I was REALLY tempted at that 'cause I liked the casehardened looking frame over the matte Rodeo, but then heard some folks saying they don't hold up over time. True?

I suppose it boils down to this..

I'm looking for a SAA clone in .45 Colt, 5.5" barrel, as close to the original 1873 Colt as possible in function and finish without crossing the $700 line. It doesn't have to be a tank, but I don't want to have to baby it either. Whaddyal think I should look at?

Buy the latest issue of Handloader. Brian Pearce reviews the Rodeo, and writes that it, and all USFA resolvers are of the best quality.

He made mention of the way these guns are built, and darned if it doesn't seem to be very high class to this SA lover.

By the way, Beretta, who now owns Uberti, is bringing out a SAA of their own. While it is made from Uberti produced parts, it is final machined and finished by Beretta, and includes a transfer bar. This on a SAA sized style frame. Perhaps worth a look-see?

Hrm... how much are the new top-line Colts then? It's pretty much the knock-offs I don't want to spend that high on.

I might be willing to pass the 1K mark down the line if the Colts are built well and spot-on as far as original mechanics and pretty finish go. The nicer US Firearms ones caught my eye, I must admit but for that kinda money I'd kinda like to have My Little Pony on the side as well as all the pretty finish though.

It would appear that the USFA guns are built with more modern machinery, and to tighter tolerances than current Colts. No less a 'smith than Hamilton Bowen believes the USFA's are better than Colts. The review of the Colt company in the American Rifleman made it pretty clear that they lack in the CNC department, and that most of the machinery is pretty well worn. USFA's are all American made nowadays, and with much better machinery in, oddly enough, the original Colt blue dome factory!

A Rodeo is no different in manufacture than their higher priced versions, save for final finish, which is a fine bead blasted blue.

I've wanted a single action for some time now. I simply assumed I'd get a Vaquero; the transfer bar sounded cool to me, to be able to safely have six cylinders loaded while carrying. And, it's strong. (Stronger than my 25-5, no less.)

But, now I'm beginning to think that something more authentic, with the four clicks and the "loading" half-cock notch on the hammer might be cooler. I mean, I generally like my old fashioned weapons to be authentic, except I prefer modern metallurgy.

How is the quality of the US Firearms Company's guns? What about Cimmaron? I REALLY like the Cimmaron Thunderers.

SAA for under $700? You might be able to get a Rodeo and they are nice guns, near perfect copies of 2nd Gen SAAs. You could probably get a Colt Cowboy, but rumor has it they aren't significantly better than the Italian clones which are half their cost. Cowboys also have transfer bars so thats out.

Best bet would probably be the new Great Western II from EMF. Very nice guns from all reports, high grades are near your $700 limit. You could also try one of their Uberti SAA clones as well which are $300ish. There's good an bad, but plenty of CAS shooters use Ubertis and like them. Uberti has made a few changes on their recently manufactured guns to help them hold up better for the CAS shooters. They use a plunger type hand spring instead of coil now because the coil springs broke too much. If you want a really inexpensive but kinda ugly gun, buy a Cabelas Uberti Millenium. Matte black finish but same works as every other Uberti for $200.

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